Here's some of the things I read when I GOOGLED it.
Being smart has nothing to do with being a good person.
Why is it that intelligent animals tend to be more cruel?
There is a connection between high IQ and compassion
Cruelty comes with intelligence and superior cognitive abilities.
Gorillas and Orangutans seem to have gentle natures and get along with with one another in general. Chimpanzees are an entirely different story. Chimps have been observed being cruel and calculated toward one another and also have developed social status.
British psychologist Christopher Bolles thinks "beneath hatred and hateful behavior lies a profound emptiness. Rage anger hatred is a way of filling that emptiness. It is better to feel sadistic than to not feel at all"
New York psychoanalyst Ruth Stein says "terrorists destroy others in order to undo their own profound self-hatred"
Children who are treated cruelly grow up to be adults who treat others cruelly
Perhaps cruelty is based on all of the above. The fact is that people in power who are extremely cruel are feared but also very strangely seem to be worshipped. Odd that.
